


The Destruction of Henry Laurens

by indimitable



Series: Dr. Freckles [6]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: F/F, Henry Laurens is an asshole, M/M, Thanksgiving, eliza is savage, philip and angie are adorable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-16 19:22:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7281568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indimitable/pseuds/indimitable
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Henry Laurens decides to come for Thanksgiving. When he's rude to John, Eliza decides to tear him a new one. Philip is 10, Angie is 6</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

There were very few things that could make John Laurens cry. One was a specific death on Orange is the New Black, which to this day he refused to mention. Another was Dobby. But the most impactful was his father calling to “check in on him.”

The last one thankfully didn’t happen very often. Henry Laurens disliked John enough that he only called when he thought he could get something out of it. Unfortunately, that appeared to be right now.

“Hello?” John answered the phone, feeling his fingers tremble.

“Hello, Jack,” his father said, sounding almost bored. “I trust you’re doing well?” John stayed silent, not trusting his voice to stay steady. Besides, it wasn’t like his father cared enough to hear his answer. “Anyways, I plan on visiting you for Thanksgiving,” his father continued. John froze, feeling dread creep down his spine.

“This Thanksgiving?” John squeaked out. “You mean, in two days?”

“Of course,” John swore he heard his father roll his eyes. “That won’t be a problem, will it? Do you still have a roommate?”

“Uh, yeah,” John swallowed. The door swung open, and the kids tumbled inside, followed by a laughing Alex. “I have to go, I’ll call you later, okay?” He didn’t let his father answer, and instead hung up on him for the first time in his life.

“Papa!” Philip cried, jumping into his lap. Angie was right on his heels, and Alex leaned over both of them to kiss John. “Who was on your phone?” Philip asked, wrapping his arms around John’s neck and smacking a kiss onto his cheek. Angie followed suit on his other cheek, and John attempted to smile as he kissed them back.

“Just a person trying to sell me something,” John told them. He felt Alex’s eyes on him, but avoided them in favor of focusing on the kids. “How was Finding Dory?” He asked. Both kids immediately launched into a retelling of the movie, each trying to talk louder than the other. John did his best to smile and pay attention, trying to ignore how Alex was staring at him reproachfully.

 

Later that night, they were cuddling in bed together when Alex brought it up. “Who was that on the phone earlier, babe?” John froze, and Alex squeezed his hand comfortingly. “It’s okay, John,” he whispered. “Was it your dad?”

John nodded, squeezing Alex’s hand back. “He said he’s coming for Thanksgiving,” John told him. Alex sucked in a breath, and John nuzzled his head into Alex’s chest. While Alex had never met John’s dad, he’d certainly heard all the stories. And those stories didn’t exactly paint a pretty picture.

“But he doesn’t know we’re married,” Alex breathed. John nodded, pursing his lips. Alex started stroking his hair with one hand while the other rubbed comforting circles into his palm. “He just thinks you have a roommate, right?” John nodded again, not daring to look up at his husband. “So I’m guessing he doesn’t know your ‘roommate’ has kids, or a lesbian ex-wife who’s coming to Thanksgiving with her wife?” John shook his head, and Alex swore under his breath.

“We couldn’t convince the kids to pretend we’re just roommates, could we?” John mumbled into Alex’s chest. Alex laughed, the sound rumbling against John’s ear. 

“No, the wedding pictures and rings might be a little hard to hide,” Alex chuckled. “As would the fact that the kids call you Papa.”

“So either I tell him he can’t come, and come up with a reason why, or I come out to him,” John grumbled.

“I know it’s lose-lose,” Alex hummed into his hair. “But if you had to choose?” John sighed, pushing his head into Alex’s hand when he realized Alex had stopped playing with his hair.

“I guess I’m coming out to my father,” he decided. Alex leaned down to kiss him, and John tried to forget his problems in his husband’s lips.

 

Unfortunately, with the dawn of the new day came a call from his father. John woke up to the sound of his phone ringing, and reached for it blindly from the bed. 

“Turn it off,” Alex moaned, yanking a pillow over his head.

“Not my fault you wanted to stay up and kiss all of my freckles,” John muttered, locating his phone and answering the call. “Hello?” He mumbled into the phone.

“Hello, Jack,” his father’s disapproving voice rang through his cell phone, as crisp and disappointed as ever. John shot up, ignoring Alex’s disgruntled groans as his pillow was dislodged. “After you hung up on me yesterday, I had my assistant do some digging.” John froze, searching his tired brain for what his father could be talking about. Digging into what?

“What do you mean?” John asked after a rather pregnant pause. Surely his father didn’t find out about Alex and the kids, right?

“You’re married?” His father snapped. “To a man? And he has children?”

“We have children,” John corrected his father without thinking, then paused. 

“I’ll be coming for Thanksgiving,” his father told him. “It appears we have more to talk about than I thought. No need to clear a guest room for me, I’ll stay in a hotel.” And without further ado, his father hung up on him.

“Who that, babe?” Alex yawned, his face scrunching up adorably. 

“My father,” John sighed, dropping his phone onto the bedside table and leaning back against the headboard. “Looks like we’ll need to set another place setting at Thanksgiving.”


	2. Thanksgiving Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aftermath of John coming out to his father, interspersed with Philip-and-Angie-cuteness occasionally

“Your dad is really coming?” Alex asked, snuggling into John’s side. “And if I wasn’t dreaming it, you just came out to him?” 

John froze. “I just came out to my father,” he whispered. “I can’t believe I just did that... I shouldn’t have done it, should I? We could have pretended we weren’t married or something, right?”

“We have wedding pictures everywhere, we wear wedding rings, we have matching tattoos, and we have kids,” Alex pointed out. “It’s going to be okay, babe. He can’t disown you for something that’s not a choice, can he?”

“You haven’t met my father, and for good reason,” John muttered. “He’d disown me in a heartbeat. Why the fuck did I think it would be a good idea to come out? He’s going to kill me.”

“We won’t let him,” Alex tried to reassure his husband. “Even he wouldn’t do anything in front of kids, right?”

“He had no problem cussing out my mother when I was Philip’s age,” John shrugged helplessly. “Or when I was Angie’s age, for that matter...” he trailed off, and Alex stretched up to press a kiss to his cheek.

“It’s all going to work out,” Alex told him firmly. “Eliza and Maria wouldn’t let him be mean to you in front of the kids, and nor would I for that matter.”

“It’s not a matter of ‘letting’ with my father,” John said, feeling numbness creep over him. “He just does what he wants, and doesn’t care who he tramples in the process. There’s nothing we can do, babygirl.”

“There’s always something we can do,” Alex said determinedly. “I’m going to talk to Maria and Eliza in the morning, and we’ll figure it out, okay?” He kissed John’s cheek again, but John just looked at him numbly. “Let’s get some sleep, and everything will be okay by the time he gets here, I promise.” Alex tugged John down gently until his head was on the pillow, then curled into him. But while Alex fell asleep quickly, his light breathing tickling John’s neck, John merely lay there staring out their window for several hours until sleep claimed him.

 

When the morning rolled around, John was woken up by the clock beeping and Alex groaning and pulling himself closer to John. John sighed, reaching over to turn the clock off. Unfortunately, he only succeeded in knocking it off the bedside table, and Alex grumbled at the sound of the crash.

“Sorry,” John whispered as he untangled himself from Alex to pick up the still-beeping clock and turn it off before setting it back on the table. “Time to get up, we have to get the kids breakfast.”

“I’m up,” Alex mumbled as he disappeared back under the covers. John watched his husband for a moment before rolling over and going back to bed.

Unfortunately, Angie and Philip had different ideas. “Papa, Daddy!” Angie cried, bounding into their bedroom. “We need help, we kinda spilled eggs all over the floor and there’s flour in the frying pan and we got pancake mix on the ceiling, but that one was totally Philip’s fault.”

“You did what?” Alex cried, sitting up. John opened his eyes blearily, aware that he was supposed to be upset but somehow unable to bring himself to feel anything. “Okay, go into the kitchen and tell Philip not to touch anything else, we’ll be right there.” Angie bounded out of the room, and Alex touched John’s shoulder. “Babe, are you okay?” He asked tentatively.

“I don’t know,” John sighed, sitting up to face Alex. “I’m not upset anymore, but I’m not happy, either.” Alex frowned, placing a chaste kiss on the corner of his mouth.

“What are you feeling?” He asked, pulling on his shirt. John shrugged, handing Alex a pair of pants. 

“I’m not really feeling anything, I guess,” John admitted, rolling out of bed and locating his shirt on the floor. “I just want this to be over with.” Alex tossed him the pants he’d been wearing last night, and John pulled them on absent-mindedly.

“Why don’t we go see what our kids are up to,” Alex suggested. “We can talk about this more, and get Maria and Eliza on board, once we’re sure they haven’t completely destroyed our kitchen the day before Thanksgiving.” John shuddered at the reminder of how close Thanksgiving was, but nodded and followed Alex out of their room.

Angie and Philip were waiting in the kitchen, perched on the counter and passing a plate of pancakes back and forth. John and Alex looked around in shock as they realized the kitchen was spotless, even last night’s dishes nowhere to be seen.

“Surprise!” The kids cried in unison, beaming. “We made breakfast!” Alex chuckled, squeezing John’s hand before letting go to hug the kids.

“Thanks, guys,” Alex kissed each of them in turn. “That’s really nice of you, although next time you could just tell us that instead of making us think you ruined the kitchen.”

“Sorry,” Philip said, his apologetic smile reminding John eerily of Alex. “But we needed you to get here quickly before the coffee got cold!”

“You made coffee?” John asked, forcing himself to put on a smile for the kids’ sake. “Where is it?” Both kids pointed to the French press, where whole coffee beans were floating in murky water. Alex looked like he was trying not to laugh, and John felt a smile tug at the corners of his mouth despite himself.

“You’re supposed to grind up the coffee beans,” Alex told them, chuckling. “But we really appreciate you guys trying to make it.”

“We also called Mommy and Mama,” Angie chimed in. “They’re coming over to try the pancakes!”

“That’s good,” Alex nodded. “We need to talk to them, so how about after breakfast we put on that Breadwinners TV show you like?”

“Yay!” Angie cheered, jumping off the counter and into Alex’s arms. John tried to swallow down his numbness, smiling at the kids as he stole one of their pancakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks to paperthinrevolutionary for helping with the aftermath of coming out to a homophobe! go subscribe to them and check out their fics they are AMAZING.  
> also come talk to me on tumblr at originallyinimitable


	3. Doomsday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some information comes to light, and a life-changing decision is made.

“Your father is coming into my house for my Thanksgiving meal? I don’t think so,” Eliza snapped. Maria placed a hand on her arm, but Eliza shook it off angrily, starting to pace. “How dare he snoop around on your private media to find out private information? That is rude!”

“First of all, he’s coming to my house,” John said tiredly, rubbing a hand over his scruff. He’d forgotten to shave. And shower. And do anything to take care of himself, really. “And also, he’s my father, he can do whatever he wants.”

“You’re not a minor, he doesn’t have those rights anymore,” Eliza cried. “And hiring someone to snoop? He didn’t even have the decency to do it himself? Alex, please tell me there’s a law he’s breaking somewhere.”

“Not really,” Alex sighed. “He probably just had the poor guy send John a friend request under a fake name, it’s not very hard to find out someone’s information once you’re Facebook friends.”

“That’s bullshit,” Eliza grumbled. John glanced into the living room, but the kids were intent on their horrible TV show and didn’t seem to have noticed their mother cussing. “He is an awful man, and I don’t want him anywhere near my children.”

“We don’t either, babe,” Maria soothed her girlfriend. “But maybe it’s for the best. Maybe he’ll leave John alone once he realizes John is happy.”

“My dad doesn’t want me to be happy,” John muttered, feeling everyone’s eyes flick onto him. “He wants me to be the perfect, straight son.”

“Papi, it’s all going to be okay,” Alex slid into John’s lap and brushed his curls out of his eyes, then smoothed his thumbs over John’s cheeks. John blinked as he realized he was crying, and Alex slid his arms around John’s neck. “We could always just not buzz him up, we have an apartment, remember?”

“We’re going to buzz him up,” Eliza said determinedly. John glanced up, startled, as she continued. “And then I’m going to beat the shit out of him for making you cry.” John laughed through his tears as Alex shushed Eliza half-heartedly, not wanting the kids to hear. “I don’t understand why shit is a swear word,” Eliza muttered under her breath. “It’s literally just poop.”

“Well, they’re not supposed to say that either, remember?” Maria reminded her girlfriend. “Just the other day you told Angie not to call her brother a poophead.” Eliza grumbled something else under her breath that John couldn’t quite make out, but Maria just laughed and kissed her on the cheek sweetly. 

“So what are we actually going to do?” Alex asked, still in John’s lap trying to sooth him. “Because as much as I’d love to see it happen, I don’t think beating the shi- uh, the poop out of a senator is good for your career.”

“I’m a preschool teacher, I don’t think it matters. But I won’t fight him,” Eliza promised him. “Unless he provokes me. Or is stupid. Or is rude to John.”

“So basically, you’re going to fight him,” Maria summarized. Eliza hesitated, then nodded. Alex rolled his eyes, and John blew his nose with a tissue Alex handed him. “I guess that could be a good thing,” Maria said thoughtfully. “From what I know of him, he could stand to be taken down a peg.”

“Several pegs,” John agreed, wiping away the last of his tears. “Although that wouldn’t set a very good example for the kids.”

“Too fucking bad,” Eliza replied, apparently still very keyed up. “It would actually set a good example, because it would show them the proper way to respond to dumbasses.” 

“What’s an ass, Mommy?” Angie asked from the doorway. John froze, trading a glance with Alex and Eliza, but Maria didn’t seem rattled.

“It’s a donkey,” she told Angie, who nodded sagely. “But it’s a rude word that Mommy shouldn’t have said, and that you shouldn’t ever repeat, okay?” Angie nodded again, and Maria ruffled her hair. “What’s up, kiddo?”

“The TV is broken,” Angie pouted. “Papa, can you-- did you cry?” John nodded, and she pushed past Maria to hug him. “Are you okay?” She asked, her huge brown eyes curious.

“I will be,” he told her. “We’re going to have someone new come for Thanksgiving, okay? My dad.”

“Can Uncle Laf and Uncle Herc still come?” Angie asked. Everyone nodded, and she smiled. “That’s okay then,” she declared. “I like Uncle Herc’s cooking better than everyone except Mama.” 

“Thanks, baby,” Maria grinned as Eliza scoffed and rolled her eyes. 

“She has a point,” Alex whispered to John. “There’s a reason Herc and Maria are cooking the turkey tomorrow, we don’t want it to burn.” Little did they know that tomorrow, both the turkey and Henry Laurens would be thoroughly roasted.

 

Thanksgiving morning dawned bright and sunny. Eliza, Maria, Herc, and Lafayette all arrived in the morning so that Maria and Herc could start cooking, and everyone except the two of them decided to take the kids to a nearby park.

“Maybe if we tire them out enough, we could put them to bed before Asshat gets here,” Eliza whispered to John, who gave her a weak smile in return as he helped Angie tie her shoes.

“Why haven’t we ever met your dad?” Philip asked later, while he and John were watching the others play hide-and-seek with Angie. “Did he leave you, like Daddy’s dad did?”

“No, he didn’t,” John said after a moment, steadfastly keeping his eyes on Angie. “He’s just not a very nice person.”

“Why is he coming to Thanksgiving, then?” Philip asked. “I thought only nice people got to come over.”

“He kind of invited himself,” John tried to explain it. “He wanted to see me.”

“But that’s rude!” Philip frowned. “When I wanted to go to Sammy’s house, Mommy told me I couldn’t invite myself to other people’s houses.”

“That’s right, you can’t,” John told Philip, racking his brains desperately for a way of explaining this to the 10-year-old. “But we’re adults, so it’s different. And besides, he’s my father.”

“What does that mean?” Philip scrunched his nose up adorably, reminding John of Eliza. “Does that mean you and Daddy can come over whenever you want when I’m grown up?”

“Sure,” John said, grinning at Philip. “Maybe we’ll just live with you.”

“Ew,” Philip giggled. “I don’t want my parents to live with me! I won’t be able to get a job!”

“That’s not how jobs work, kiddo,” John laughed. “But I promise we won’t live with you unless you want us to.” 

“What are you two up to?” Elia asked as she approached them. Philip hopped up to give her a hug, and she chuckled as she sat down with him in her lap.

“We’re talking about Papa’s dad coming to visit us,” Philip informed her. “It’s not rude because he’s Papa’s dad, so he’s allowed to do that.”

“Is that right,” Eliza raised an eyebrow at John over Philip’s head, and he shrugged. “Well, it’s time to head home, okay? Your mama just texted me, and she and Uncle Herc are nearly done cooking.”

 

By the time they got to John and Alex’s apartment, however, Henry Laurens was already there.

“Hello, Jack,” he smiled tightly at his son from the couch. Hercules was sitting in the chair next to him, his arms crossed over his chest and a frown on his face. Someone, likely Maria, was in the kitchen, banging around pots and pans with a lot more force than John suspected was necessary.

“Hi, Father,” John replied, squeezing Alex’s hand a little harder than he meant to. Eliza shot John a grimace before slipping into the kitchen. The banging stopped, and John sighed in relief.

“Great to meet you,” Lafayette slipped on a smile, ever the diplomat. “I’m Lafayette, one of John’s friends.” They held out their hand to shake, but Henry did not take it. Instead, he gave them a once-over, taking in their tight jeans, rainbow-colored Tshirt, and the fact that their other hand was now being held by Hercules.

“Hello,” Henry said, looking as though Laf was holding out a pile of dog shit instead of their hand.

“Can we call you Grandpa?” Philip asked excitedly. Angie was clutching his hand, looking more than a little scared of Henry.

“You can call me Mr. Laurens, or Senator Laurens,” Henry said sharply, and Philip deflated. Angie let go of his hand to dart behind Alex, hiding behind his legs. “Who are your parents?”

“We are,” John and Alex said simultaneously. “As are Maria and Eliza,” Alex added. Eliza and Maria came into the room then, both looking like they were trying to smile but only succeeding in grimacing.

“Well, who gave birth to them? Who is their biological father?” Henry demanded.

“I gave birth to them, and Alex is their biological father,” Eliza chimed in. “But that does not make Maria or John any less their parents.”

“Of course it does,” Henry sniffed. “Children can only have two parents, and besides, Jack is not fit to be a parent.”

“John is a wonderful parent,” Eliza snapped. “Which is a miracle, considering he came from you. Although I suppose you wouldn’t know much about parenting, considering the sheer amount of nannies you foisted him off on once his poor mother died.”

“You know nothing about Jack’s slut of a mother,” Henry blustered. “I was the best father Jack could have asked for, I only tried to do the best for him, and he still turned out to be a homosexual! No homosexual should be allowed to have children, it just ruins them. Why, I have half a mind to call Child Protective Services on the four of you! Your poor children don’t need to have such terrible influences in their lives.” Angie whimpered, and Alex scooped her up into his arms.

“You do that, and I will call Child Protective Services on you and get all of John’s siblings removed from your care,” Eliza retorted. “Half of Philip and Angie’s parents are homosexuals, and that does not stop them from being happy children with wonderful parents. If you think you could get my children taken away from me, then I recommend you think again. I would go through hell and back for Philip and Angie, because unlike you, I understand what it means to be a parent. My children are happier with four queer parents then they ever would be with a sack of cowshit like you.”

Henry opened his mouth to say something, but Eliza beat him to the punch. “And furthermore, how dare you insinuate that John’s mother was a slut? First of all, that’s a terrible word to use, especially in front of my children. And second, if she was anything like her son, she was sweet and caring and kind, as well as an amazing parent. In other words, everything you are not.”

“She was just a waste of space like her son,” Henry shouted, gesturing in John’s direction. “I should have offed her sooner, as I’m sure anyone who met her would have agreed.” John flinched back, his mouth dropping open, and Maria slipped her arms around his waist comfortingly. “She was lucky I didn’t decide to do the same thing to my son, if he really is my son.”

“I wish he was so lucky as to not be your son,” Eliza hissed. “Get out of this house before I decide to give you a lobotomy with a kitchen knife.” Henry started to speak, but Eliza whirled around, heading in the direction of the kitchen, and Henry immediately started for the door. “And don’t you ever contact John again!” Eliza screamed after him. She slammed the door behind him, the sound echoing through the silent apartment, before turning around and collapsing into Maria’s arms.

“Whoa, babe,” Maria caught her girlfriend easily, leading her over to the couch. “You okay?”

“I’m so sorry, John,” Eliza apologized, a tear sliding down her cheek. “I know you didn’t want me to go off on him, but he insulted you and us and the kids and I just couldn’t take it.”

“It’s okay,” John reassured her, still in a state of shock. “I mean, I can’t say he didn’t deserve it.”

“Was he serious about your mother?” Maria asked as she sat down next to Eliza and started wiping away her tears. Philip climbed into Eliza’s lap to give her a hug, and Angie wriggled in Alex’s arms until he set her down. “If he was, we need to get your siblings away from him.”

“We need to get them away from him anyways,” Hercules added. “He doesn’t deserve kids.”

“Especially if they’re all as awesome as John,” Alex agreed. “Babe, how many siblings do you have that are still living with him?”

“Just three,” John told them. “My half-siblings, the triplets. Mary, Jemmy, and Henry Jr. They should be six now.”

“They shouldn’t have to go into the system,” Alex frowned. “It chews kids up and spits them out.”

“Do we know anyone who would be willing to adopt three kids?” Eliza raised an eyebrow. “I suppose the Washingtons might...”

“I think they might be getting a little old to handle three six-year-olds,” Maria pursed her lips.

“We’ve been thinking about having kids,” Laf put in. “What if we adopted them? They’d be close to their big brother, and we’d have lots of help babysitting. They’re Angie’s age, so they’d already have one friend.”

“I get three friends!” Angie said happily. The adults laughed, and John exchanged a speculative look with Herc and Laf.

“Why don’t we call the police on him before we do anything else,” Maria suggested. “I don’t want those poor kids to be with him any longer than they have to.” Everyone else agreed quickly, and Eliza pulled out her cell phone.

“And then after that, we should eat,” Herc added. “We did spend several hours cooking, and I think the mashed potatoes are getting cold.”

“I am not letting him ruin my Thanksgiving,” Eliza agreed, blowing a kiss to the kids before stepping out to talk to the police.


End file.
